“It took eight weeks for her to just jump into the pool,” said Karen Santilena, Kate’s mother.

Now, it’s nearly impossible to get her out of the water.

Santilena, a senior at Chaparral High, won two individual events and one team relay event at the Southwestern League swimming finals Thursday at Temecula Valley High.

Great Oak won the girls team title with 431 points. Murrieta Valley (547) easily won the boys title. Athletes who met or beat qualifying times for each individual and team relay event will advance to the CIF Southern Section Division II prelims next Friday at the Riverside Aquatics Complex.

Years ago, the first week of Santilena’s toddler lessons went less than swimmingly. She spent most of her time sitting in the corner of the pool, crying.

“I didn’t like swimming at first,” Santilena said. “But I was too young to remember.”

It didn’t take long for Kate to dive head first into the sport.

“By the time she was 5, she was so advanced, she was taking swim lessons with 12-year-old boys,” Karen said.

She has spent countless hours perfecting her craft. Santilena, who earned a scholarship to San Diego State, is proficient in every stroke.

“It’s such a big part of my life now,” said Santilena, who set a school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.50) and also captured the 100 butterfly (56.20). “I love swimming. It’s been a big part of my life for a long, long time.”

Karen and Kate drive to Redlands six days a week for three hours of coaching. Despite the time crunch, Kate still carries a 4.1 GPA.

The race came down to a swim-off between the Pumas’ Mitch Kirk and the Nighthawks’ Daniel Ghomi.

“You can’t really see much when you’re looking straight down at the pool going fast,” said Kirk, who also swam the freestyle portion of the Pumas’ league-record time (1:37.59) in the 200 medley relay. “But I could tell that he was right there with me, and I just tried to keep my tempo up and swim as hard as I could.”

Ghomi dove into the pool trailing Kirk by at least a meter. He came within a whisker of catching him at the wall.

“I just put my head down and went for it,” said Ghomi, who set personal bests in winning both the 100 (46.59) and 200 (1:40.87) freestyles. “I tend to look to the side of my goggles with whoever I’m racing.

“We were stroke for stroke on the way back,” he added. “They’re a good team. It was a great race.”

Chaparral senior Mariam Lowe had a busy and productive day. She swam the backstroke portion of the Pumas’ league-record victory in the 200-medley relay (1:49.01), and also won two individual events, including setting a league record in the 100 backstroke (56.14)

“I had just swam the 500, and I was so tired, and I was so nervous about that,” said Lowe, who also won the 500 freestyle in a personal-best 5:04.65. “When I touched the wall, I thought I saw a (time of) 59.1, and I was like, ‘Dang.’

“I was wondering why everyone was cheering really loud. Then I looked a little bit further, and I saw the 56, and it took me by surprise.”